July KAL - And the Yarn is 20% Off!

It's time for another one of Michelle Hunter's Progressive Needles Knit Alongs!  The July Knit-Along is a repeat of Michelle's very first (and outrageously popular) sock KAL called “Center of Attention.”  Bonus:  The Skacel Zitron Trekking XXL sock yarn is on sale at 20% off!

Why the repeat? Two reasons ... with so many new participants in Michelle's KALs, many knitters missed this great toe-up sock design. Second, for every ball of Trekking XXL “Susanne” color purchased, Skacel will donate $10 to the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. This lovely sock yarn was specially dyed in the turquoise color of ovarian cancer awareness.

Never done a KAL?  It's easy ... Michelle will reveal the pattern on her website in four segments, every Thursday in July starting on July 4th (if you have the day off work, you may as well knit!).  Have a question?  No problem ... the pattern includes photos and online video instructions.  It's like having a knitting tutor right by your side.  How much does it cost?  Nothing!  You don't have to register or pay any fee to participate. Bonus: you may even win some cool prizes from Skacel.

Trekking XXL in Susanne

You will need:

• One ball of Trekking XXL yarn – 75% Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon, 459 yards/100g.  We expect Susanne will be the most popular color (and we have plenty of it in stock!), but we also have ten other great colors to choose from.
• Size 1 / 2.5mm needles. Adjust the needle size you need to achieve a gauge of 8 stitches per inch (if necessary).
• Cable Needle

The Center of Attention sock pattern may be knit with double points, on two circular knitting needles, or with the magic loop method (see Michelle Hunter's magic loop video instruction). If you prefer to knit on two circular needles, we recommend two 24" length needles for this project.  I prefer the circulars, and my favorite needles are a toss-up between the addi Turbo, addi Lace, Sock Rockets or the Natura circulars.  For the magic loop method we recommend one 40" circular needle.

I'm looking forward to this KAL!  Michelle's mystery patterns are always fun, plus the Susanne yarn supports a great cause!

Happy Knitting . . . . Amy

Berroco Yarns & Patterns All 20% Off!

Berroco is one of my favorite yarn brands, with a wide range of terrific yarns for your next knitting or crochet project.  This month,  ALL of our Berroco yarns are 20% off!  That's over 20 styles to choose from, each in a variety of colors.  So many choices ...

Versa Yarn

• Be flashy with Berroco Sox Metallic, a superwash wool with a bit of bling and a little striping
• Go for a more traditional look with Vintage Wool (medium weight) or Vintage DK yarn, an acrylic wool blend with the look of wool.  
• Discover the exotic beauty of alpaca with Ultra Alpaca Fine, Ultra Alpaca Light, or Ultra Alpaca.
• Make an earth-friendly statement with Remix, a 100% recycled yarn.
• Grab someones attention with Seduce or Seduce Colors, a corded strand of linen, rayon and nylon that has a softness, sheen and drape that cries out "Touch Me!" 
• Knit something quick with Souffle, a light and airy super bulky blend of wool, acrylic and baby alpaca.
• Get comfy with the softness of the easy wash, easy care, nylon and acrylic blends of Comfort Chunky, Comfort DK, Comfort DK Print, Comfort Print, Comfort Sock, and Comfort yarns. 

Patterns in Berroco Weekend #328

So what will you create with your new yarn?   We've got that covered too, because we also have all Berroco patterns at 20% off! 

The Berroco patterns are available as a traditional pamphlet or in electronic form as a PDF.  You will have the option to choose the format you like best, and help is always available on our download help page or by calling the store at 815-777-3550.

Happy Knitting! . . . . Amy

Two New Colors in Liberty Wool Print are 10% Off!

Liberty Wool Print in Sugar Spun

What would you get if you combined all of your favorite cotton candy flavors into one pile?  Well, it would be quite a mess, but it sure would be pretty!  Get the same effect, without sticky fingers, with "Sugar Spun" the newest color of Classic Elite Yarn's Liberty Wool Print. Sugar Spun is a harmony of red, pink, gray, brown, purple, blue and green that will make you think sweet thoughts of cotton candy, rainbow sherbet and lollipops.

Not quite your style?  "Floral Hallucination" is Liberty Wool Print's bold collision of green, blue, pink and red.  This floral combination is not for wallflowers!  Wear Floral Hallucination and you'll be noticed! 

Floral Hallucination

Bonus:  Buy these two new colors this month and you'll save 10%!

Liberty Wool Print is Classic Elite's soft worsted weight, machine washable 100% wool yarn.  It is a self striping yarn in a huge assortment of awesome colors.  Sugar Spun and Floral Hallucination are just two of over 30 colors!

Want some free stuff?  Who doesn't?  Buy Liberty Wool Print yarn in any color and you can choose one of two great blanket patterns - FREE!  A crib blanket is always a welcome gift for a newborn (especially when it's machine washable!), and who doesn't like to snuggle under a cozy throw while watching TV at the end of the day.   As soon as we process your yarn order, you will find your free pattern waiting for you in your account as an electronic download! 

Any cool Liberty Wool Print stuff on Ravelry?  You betcha!  Ravelry.com has over 1,300 projects made from Liberty Wool Print ... the project ideas are endless! 

Bold color combinations just not your style?  Do you have a project in mind that is more "Plain Jane" than "Fancy Nancy"?  Liberty Wool is the same great yarn as Liberty Wool Print, but in solid colors.  Knit plain with Liberty Wool, or combine Liberty Wool and Liberty Wool Print to highlight a single color. 

Happy Knitting . . . .  Amy

Spring 2013 Patterns - Printed Pamphlets or PDFs!

Classic Elite Yarn has an impressive collection of sixteen new pattern pamphlets for Spring 2013!  I am honored to have two of my new designs published this season. My lace and cable sweater “Diana” is featured on the cover of the “Year Round” pamphlet, and my versatile vest “Bluebird” in the “Bird's Nest” pamphlet.

The Bluebird vest in Cricket

"Bluebird" is a casual vest with pretty eyelet detailing along the front edges.  It's a great layering piece that can be worn open or wrapped with a belt.  I designed it using Classic Elite's Cricket yarn, a blend of cotton and linen that provides great drape and softness.  We've got sixteen fun tone-on-tone colors to choose from! 

Bonus:  Cricket is 20% off as part of our spring yarn sale!

In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of hunting, associated with nature and the woodlands.  You will be a knitting goddess after this challenge!  The Diana pullover is adorned with beautiful columns of leaf lace and a subtle scalloped neck.  This one is a perfect piece for the more experienced knitter!  The pullover is knit with Classic Elite's Solstice yarn, an organic cotton with a bit of merino wool.  We've got eighteen goddess-worthy colors of Solstice to choose from!

The Diana pullover in Solstice

Bonus:  Solstice is 20% off as part of our spring yarn sale!

The Spring 2013 Classic Elite patterns are available as a traditional pamphlet, or each pattern can be purchased individually in electronic form as a PDF.  You will have the option to choose the format you like best, and help is always available on our download help page or by calling the store at 815-777-3550.


Happy Knitting  . . . .  Amy

Fall Yarns are 20-40% Off - Spring Yarns are 20% Off!

Spring is here!  Celebrate spring with a fun new spring knitting project ... and it's even better when all our spring yarns are 20% off! 

I like the breezy feel of soft cotton in the earth-friendly 2nd Time Cotton recycled yarn - it's great for summer sweaters and skirts.  I've also made some cool summer tanks and tees with the cotton-linen blend Creative Linen, and you can't beat the organic cotton in bright happy colors in Seedling Handpaint for summer wear ... click to shop all our spring yarns!

Mosco Yarn is 25% Off

Want to stock up for fall knitting projects, or get an early start on Holiday gift-knitting?  We're cleaning out our fall yarns by marking them 20% - 40% off!

The wool, alpaca and viscose blend of Portland Tweed is great for cozy warm sweaters and now it's 25% off!  We're almost out of the hand dyed, fine gauge Ranco Solid wool blend yarn - and at 40% off it's going to sell out fast!  You'll wish it was still autumn with a gorgeous ruffle scarf made from Renda Trico Margarida - a pretty band of lace with evenly spaced holes to knit or crochet, stock up now at 25% off!  Shop now for the best selection ... once they are gone, they are gone!

Happy Knitting . . . .  Amy

Liberty Wool Print - Great Yarn, Plus a FREE Pattern!

Liberty Wool Print in Stained Glass

It is a Cloudy Dawn day under a Bronze Sky when I sip my Fruit Flavored drink and kick some Red Hot Blue embers into the Campfire, wishing I was beside a Caribbean Tidepool, or maybe under Majestic Mountains gazing out over North Sea Whitecaps . . . 

Am I drinking while typing?  Writing a trashy romance novel?  No!  I’m using as many Liberty Wool Print color names in a sentence as  I can.  Ok, so maybe the sentence doesn’t make any sense – but I sure am mentioning a lot of pretty colors!

Liberty Wool Print is Classic Elite's soft worsted weight, machine washable 100% wool yarn.  It is a self striping yarn in a huge assortment of awesome colors.  We have over 30 colors to choose from!   

Bonus:  Select one of the new colors revealed this month and you'll get 10% off!

Any Great Patterns? Besides the zillions of worsted weight patterns available, Classic Elite has published two pattern booklets, Accents and Palette, and now the patterns in each pamphlet are available as an individual electronic download!  These patterns are designed to take advantage of Liberty Wool Print's self striping.  Get the whole booklet, or choose individual patterns. 
 

Bobble Bind-Off Scarf and Neckerchief

Got any FREE Patterns? Yep, Classic Elite has been hard at work with a set of free electronic patterns. Buy any quantity of the Liberty Wool Print and receive a free copy of a Classic Elite pattern!  The patterns change each month; until Friday, May 10th you can choose between the Bobble Bind-Off Scarf or the Neckerchief.  As soon as we confirm your payment for the yarn, you will find your free pattern waiting for you in your account as an electronic download! 

Any Patterns on Ravelry? We checked ... Ravelry.com has over 1,300 projects made from Liberty Wool Print ... the project ideas are endless!

Bold color combinations just not your style?  Do you have a project in mind that is more Plain Jane than Fancy Nancy?  Liberty Wool is the same great yarn as Liberty Wool Print, but in solid colors. 

Happy Knitting . . . .  Amy

Dragon Wings Shawl - The Exclusive Yarn is 20% Off and the Pattern is Free!

You have probably heard of the HBO series "Game of Thrones."  It's an epic drama where it's not clear who's bad and who's good . . .  especially the dragons!  It's Vera's favorite show, so Vera and I worked up a custom Mountain Colors Yarn color, and a terrific shawl inspired by the majestic dragon named Drogon.

Dragon Wings Shawl Pattern

The circular shawl features flames and scales, with cables for the spines of the dragon wings.  It's knit with Mountain Color's Bearfoot yarn, a soft blend of superwash wool, mohair and a little nylon. The shawl's size is approximately 21” to 23” in diameter, and will take two skeins of the Bearfoot yarn.

Bonus: The Dragon Wings Shawl pattern is FREE with the purchase of the Bearfoot Fire Dragon yarn!


This exclusive yarn color is called “Fire Dragon,” and is available only at FiberWild!  The bold red, black and yellow are the color of Drogon's wings, and the color is also reminiscent of the flames of the funeral pyre where Daenery's three dragons were hatched.

The Fire Dragon color is also available in Crazyfoot and Weavers Wool 1/4s. We DO NOT recommend knitting the shawl with Crazyfoot. We have not knit the shawl in Weavers Wool 1/4s, but if you would like to give it a try, please call the store for some insights!

Daenery with Drogon the Dragon

Click here for more info on the Game of Thrones, story, characters and dragons. (The HBO Site is FLASH, and won't work on your iPad!).  Also, you can Click here for Game of Thrones on Ravelry.  And be sure to wear your new shawl when you watch next Sunday!  (Or knit while you are watching!)

You Knit or You Die . . . . .  Amy